Tbilisi

We had some crazy situations with apartments scam - so please everyone be aware, that there are people pretending an RE agent. Always do a checkup of a realtor you are contacting. And the statement below that georgian people like to be 'dramatic'. Never experienced so much drama in my life, as from georgian landlords during 6 months of staying in Tbilisi ;)

I disagree with one of the reviews that Tbilisi has no parks. Actually it's super ridiculous thing to say about Tbilisi! The city has plenty of green spaces (Vera Park, Mtatsminda mountain, Turtle Lisi Lake and magical Mziuri and don't forget to mention Vake, where you can climb up the hill and you feel like you just transported yourself outside of the city in ~5mins ). Actually PARKS are my favourite in Tbilisi - because of them, as well as big sidewalks to walk (unseen in Chiang Mai for sure). Person who wrote about the lack of parks had to live on the wrong side of the river - only go for districst like Vera, Vake, Saburtalo and there the choice of parks is broad.

What I didn't like about Tbilisi? I confirm that locals are unfriendly. City is very noisy (drivers are agressive, have no respect to pedestrians and beep a lot).

Georgian goverment wants foreigners in their country so badly but locals mentality (very post soviet one) is not ready. They only want to get your money and the best would be if you dissapear just afterwards.

Also you will have hard time to eat out as vegeterian - vegan. Places fully "green" are just a few. In other spots you can eat salads/chaciapuri which is cheese + carbs (for a vegan stays cucumber tomato salad - i wish you luck getting full with it :D).

I've been living in Tbilisi for 7 months.
The most surprising thing about the city was the welcoming expat community which is larger than I expected. Quality, well travelled people that are generally older (30's+). I met many good friends in a very short period of time.
The downtown area of the city is not ideal and can be noisy and polluted but the suburbs (only a 10min cab ride away), especially upscale Vake, is a better option in my opinion. It has a large beautiful park, lovely shops, restaurants and bars. Rent here is still quite cheap. All apartments are rented out fully furnished. You can get a nice large flat for as low as 200usd but 400 will get you a large modern flat.
Internet is very fast, up to 100mbps for about 30usd per month.
There are also many international restaurants but you may not find it as authentic as in other major cities.
Locals are not friendly generally speaking except in the villages. Communication in English can be difficult but not impossible.
Settling here for short or longer term is very easy, you can open a bank account and work legally on your visa on arrival.
Banks like Bank of Georgia offer savings accounts for 3 months in the local currency with an 11.5% interest rate!
Safety is not an issue for most unless you go to the dodgier bars but at most they will rip you off. As a woman I feel totally safe night and day.
Drivers are aggressive but taxi's are cheaper than anywhere I've ever been to (about 2usd for a 15 minute ride) which you can get quickly and easily on Bolt or Yandex apps.
Overall cost of living is very cheap. You can easily live on less than 1000usd per month and still go out and have fun.
Also the country has handled covid very well and is one of the best countries to ride out the wave, everything is nearly back to normal, borders still closed in mid June.
Weather is mild, even in winter it's not too bad, heating and air-conditioning works well.
I really like it here!

I've lived in Tbilisi for one month. In short: the foundations are here for a great and low cost place to work. But the city lacks liveability (parks, healthy food, noisy, polluted).

The pro's: It is easy to get a visa, has a growing expat community, easy to arrange mobile plan, gym, housing, etc and its all super cheap. Its perfect for bootstrapping and costwise even on par with Chiang Mai. Its also easy to take trips to the mountains and Armenia and taxi's itself are incredibly cheap. The city has a growing number of gems to eat, shop and drink.

Even though all the pro's above I personally wouldn't return. Besides expats it was difficult to make connections. The locals can be rude at times and love being dramatic and driving illogically big SUV's. The city was noisy, dirty and it was difficult finding places to run or relax since parks are non-existent and streets are in bad shape. Cheese, meat and wine sounds great at first but it gets boring real fast and it was difficult to eat healthy.

I've lived in Tbilisi for three months. I started in Kutaisi (fly cheaply to Kutaisi with WizzAir) for a few days before hiking through the Svaneti region for four days. Highly recommend getting to the Caucasus!

If you're looking to bootstrap while you retrain yourself or start your online business, then Tbilisi is a great option. I've spent less in Tbilisi than I did in Chiang Mai. They speak better English than what some may suggest. I've gotten the wrong order a few times, but other than that, I have not had a problem with communicating. Internet is copious. I recommend Hurma and Althaus Tea Room for a couple great cafes to work from.

I found Georgians to be rather unfriendly, and it was difficult to make any local friends. Tbilisi is the worst city for gay life that I have ever been to, so if you're LGBT then don't expect much. On the other hand, Tbilisi is exceptionally safe. I walked home alone from the bar at 3 AM on several occasions and never felt any unease. Ohh, and the drivers in Tbilisi are aggressive, and the cars approach pedestrians too closely. Lastly, Georgian ATMs do not charge a fee and the exchange rates are at market rate. So with my Schwab account, I was able to pull money out completely free. Good and bad as with any city, but I will definitely return to Tbilisi, especially with the 1 year tourist visa and Ryan Air's new routes in Tbilisi.

Lived here for 3 months. Fantastic. Special mentions to Rooms Hotel for the best late-night coding and coffee lounge, Urban Garden for best reasonably-priced gym, Restaurant Tiflis (by the bridge), Duqani, Shatre, and Machahkela resturant chain for inexpensive but great food, and Skola Coffee + Book Corner Cafe (opposite Restaurant Tiflis) for best daytime cafes you can work at. Best ice cream (by FAR): The Cone Culture.

Georgians are very friendly and hospitable. It's also the first ex-Soviet country to legalise 🍁, if you're that way inclined (you'll find Georgians willing to share nearly everywhere.)

However it's an Eastern European country and still poor, you gotta be careful.

I recommend you open a local bank account with TBC Bank (very easy process) and then use Transferwise to exchange into GEL.

(connect with me: scaur.nz)